


See the Light

by Corvus_Aconitum



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Gen, heat exhaustion, hottest day in summer, taking care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:17:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvus_Aconitum/pseuds/Corvus_Aconitum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being focused on a task can make you forget anything else around you. When Hathaway faces the consequences of that Lewis is there to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See the Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cactusonastair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactusonastair/gifts).



> I toyed with this idea for quite a while. And as I like the idea of Lewis taking care of his bagman I decided to post it here.  
> This is for the brilliant cactusonastair for making my evenings with wonderful ffs and the promise of more stories to come.  
> Enjoy!

 

 

DS James Hathaway knelt on the grassy ground, searching, observant gaze cast around slowly.

_Mustn’t miss anything here!_

He had been at it for hours now – searching while the sun beat down relentlessly – desperate to find what they needed to.

 

A few days back they had been a hairs width from solving the violent murder of a teenage boy, but in the end it had all amounted to nothing. Their prime suspect – an industrial magnate with seemingly endless supply of money and self-importance – had assured them that he had never been to the remote park, where the murder had taken place – the very park where Sergeant Hathaway was now. With no proof on the contrary and in face of a hastily produced alibi they had to let him go.

 

That was until yesterday:

They had once again questioned Mr. Fuller when Lewis noticed the man fiddling with his wrist repeatedly. A bit of casual probing – it was often in his governor’s favour that he was far more intelligent than what most took him for – had revealed that Fuller had recently lost his watch.

 

That in itself was innocuous enough but had acquired a whole new meaning when this morning Hathaway got information that their suspect had been seen at the park after all. Not at the night of the murder but some days later, obviously searching for something!

 

Lewis had not been in the office at the time, so James had left him a note on his desk and driven to the crime scene.

 

If Fuller had been searching the premises the day before yesterday and still not found his watch when they had questioned him yesterday morning, there was still a chance to find evidence.

 

 _Come on, James, you have to take a closer look! It’s not as if you don’t know that the bastard murdered the boy!_ And true, although they hadn’t charged him officially yet or even let on that he was their prime suspect, it all fit to a t:

There had been rumours that the victim had butted heads with Fuller repeatedly on behalf of the boy’s sister, who was one of Fuller’s assistants. He was said to have harassed her in a less than innocent fashion more than once but nobody actually as of yet had placed an official complain. That alone was no grounds for an arrest for murder, let alone reason for profound suspicion  but there were other things that made Lewis and Hathaway strongly suspect the man.

 

Most indicative of all had been his attitude! No, not the self assured arrogance in fact, but the deep seated belief that it was entirely in his rights to take what he wanted, when he wanted and not matter what the other party thought of it.

 

There seemed to be no positive feeling in that man at all, only cold blooded calculation. It had sickened sergeant and inspector equally.

The way that man perceived other people as if they were his property, was only the tip of the iceberg.

Hell, when they had told him about the murder he had actually said: “Oh really? Well, life is a highway. Always knew that the little runt was one for the gutter, sooner or later to be run over by one of the faster, _better_ ones.”

 

Never in his life had the young sergeant met anyone with less consideration for others! No, lack of consideration was the wrong term, it was contempt! That, backed up with the total belief that there could be no fault to any of his actions.

 

Well, Inspector Lewis had taught his to trust his instincts and in this case they were screaming at him to stop Norman Fuller before he could commit further crimes!

 

And that was why – on the hottest summer day Oxford had seen in a long while – James was methodically searching the ground of Montgomery Park. His suit jacket and tie had long since been discarded. Absentmindedly he brushed sweat from his brow.

 

_Whew. My throat feels like sandpaper. That’s not important now, though. I can drink something after I’ve found that damn watch! I owe it to the boy and his family!_

 

It was what Hathaway had been telling himself for the last 3 hours but at the moment that was beyond his focus. Cracking the case and arresting whoever murdered Joshua Phillips (even if it wasn’t Fuller) was his No. 1 priority right now!

 

After a search of the actual crime scene had yielded no results, he had gone on to the wide grassy area that extended from one side of the lake toward the main gates. It seemed a likely place to look. After all, it was here where Fuller had been seen searching.

 

James had known searching the crime scene would most likely amount to nothing; after all SOCO had been all over the place already, but he was nothing if not thorough and had taken another look just to be sure.

 

Huffing out a deep breath now, gazing at his watch (and wondering why the numbers blurred briefly) he rose from his hunched position and took a few steps farther in the direction of the lake.

 

 _Whoa! Why is everything spinning right now...?_ Shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness his eyes wandered across the ground....

 

And that’s when he found it!!

A small exclamation of triumph escaped his lips as he squatted down again – dizzy spell ignored – to pick up a posh gold watch with his handkerchief. James turned it around carefully. It was exquisitely made, big enough to give the impression of a status symbol rather than an article of use and obviously made of gold and platinum. James couldn’t believe his luck when there actually was an inscription on the back: ‘Norman Fuller – success is what you take’.

 

_Egomaniac idiot. No wonder he searched for this._

His phone rang. Fishing it out of his pocket inexplicably took longer than it should. Lewis. The trace of a smile on his face he took up the call.

“Sir, sometimes I think you are able to read minds.” He said before Lewis could even announce his name. There was a huff at the other end of the line.

 

“If I could I wouldn’t be wondering where you have been for the last two hours.” A Pause, then:

“So, where _have_ you been and what are you doing? Your note was rather vague, you know. It said, though, you would be back by 1 o’clock, which was two hours ago, if I might remind you, Sergeant.”

 

Totally ignoring the reprimand (not usually a habit of the polite Sergeant) he answered:

“I’ve found it.” A note of satisfaction was colouring the deep voice.

 

“You found wh...? Oh, you found that watch, haven’t you? I take it you are at Montgomery Park, then?”

Although he couldn’t for the life of him fathom, why Lewis sounded so far away (James held the mobile directly to his ear after all), his face was a picture of triumph – finally at peace again, now that solving the case seemed possible.

 

“We’ve got him.” James murmured as he rose from the ground.

“Whoa!”

 

******

 

While talking to his Sergeant Robbie sat at his desk at the station. He was happy that James had most likely found key evidence for this case, but something in the back of his mind niggled at him. He could not place the feeling. Although James didn’t say anything, something seemed off.

 

Maybe that was the point: Hathaway hadn’t said anything... well, not the usual things anyway.

Normally the lad was ruthlessly efficient; delivering all information available in short, organised fashion that made some suspect that he practiced his reports beforehand to impress. James didn’t though, he didn’t need to. His natural intellect was enough to accomplish that.

 

The murmured ‘We’ve got him.’ distracted him momentarily.

_Well, there’ll be enough time for details later when we meet._

 

“Well done, indeed.”

“Whoa!” _That didn’t sound good!_

“James? Is everything a’right with ye?” Worry made Robbie’s Geordie accent resurface more sharply.

“Huh?” His concern grew. James Hathaway had never in all the years they worked together made ‘Huh?’ no matter how tired or drunk he had been! With anyone else Robbie wouldn’t have been worried but it was very much part of James’ personality never to slur his speech or have an enunciation less than perfect if he could help it. Lewis suspected it had something to do with growing up at Crevecoeur; something about fitting in, no doubt.

 

Another curious noise reached Robbie’s ears and made his alarm bells ring

 

“James, what happened just now?”

“Uhm... I... don’t know.... Sir, why... why are you holding your phone away from you as you speak?”

“What? Daft lad, I’m doing no such thing.” _Oh yes, something is definitely off here!_

And slowly the inspector began to suspect what it might be.

 

“Sergeant, tell me two things: How long have been searching today and where in the park are you _exactly_?” Asking this Robbie already grabbed his car keys and left the station at a fast pace.

There was a long silence from the other end, then:

“Since morning... obviously.” The last was added distractedly and without even a trace of James’ normal teasing. It seemed more like he thought aloud.

 

_Damn it! The lad sounds more than a bit faint. And judging from his earlier question it’s plain that he isn’t well. He’s not even able to concentrate enough to answer all my questions._

 

“James, _where_ are you?” The typical beep of car doors unlocking disrupted the silence as Robbie waited anxiously for his Sergeant’s answer. It came, albeit a little slowly and delivered in a tired, confused tone.

 

“Uhm... the lake... I’m near the lake.”

“Which side of the lake?!”

“Sir, (a slight trace of panic had sneaked into Hathaway’s normally deep baritone) now you are _really_ sounding far away! ... and... uh.... Why is everything turning...?”

“James!”

But there was no answer.

 

 _Christ!_ Robbie slapped his hand on the steering wheel in frustration! He was already on the road out of Oxford, but it would take him at least 15 minutes to reach the park. Furthermore he would bet his badge that his Sergeant was down with a sun stroke or something similar right now! Seeing as his son Mark had been quite prone to these things as a child, Robbie knew the signs fairly well.

 

_Daft lad! He has to know that a complexion like a sheet of paper and hours out in the sun are a bad combination!_

His gaze briefly slipped down to the full water bottle on the floor by the passenger’s seat. Hathaway had made him take it with him; had almost motherhenned him into it when temperatures outside had risen dramatically.

 

 _Well, it seems for all his lectures about getting enough fluids on hot days like these, **especially at my age** _ (this had been delivered with definite facetiousness) _my Sergeant has not heeded his own advice... at all._

Of course he knew why James hadn’t. He had seen the signs early on. The lad had been completely devoted to this case ever since they had gone to deliver the sad news of Joshua’s death to his family.

 

_Sometimes James’ heart is too big for his own good._

 

 

******

 

DI Lewis began the search for his bagman at the obvious place to start: the crime scene. He had entered the park through the side gate as it had been nearer to the road and would lead him to the crime site.

 

Ten minutes later he quickly made his way out of the small spattering of trees, which were growing on three sides of the lake, toward the vast expanse of green. You didn’t get a sun stroke from working in the shade of trees after all, so he was fairly sure the field was where Hathaway had been searching. 

 

And sure enough, as soon as he stepped away from the trees – and felt heated air slap into him like a wall – he spotted the young man lying on the ground in a crumpled heap. Ignoring the pressing heat Lewis sprinted toward him and squatted down beside a nearly unconscious Hathaway. He mildly shook his head when he noticed the watch still clutched in James’ hand, protected by a handkerchief.

 

“Oh, you daft lad!” He tried to rouse him from his semi conscious state but it no use. So he carefully turned him onto his back, taking in pale skin and a sweat soaked face. The light blue shirt fairly clung to his lanky body, dampened from sweat as it was. His pulse was thrumming with high frequency, while breaths came in short, fast gasps. Gently palming his partner’s forehead, damp coolness penetrated his skin at once.

 

In short, James showed all the signs of heat exhaustion. _Not a sun stroke, then. Well, heat exhaustion is not much better. At least I know what I’m up against._

 

“First and foremost we have to get you out of the sun, Jim, and then I’ll see how I can help you.” Robbie spoke in a low soothing tone while he carefully slung his arms around James’ heaving chest. Hathaway’s eyelids flickered slightly and he sluggishly moved his head, not really conscious but not totally out of it either.

 

When he began to move him (pulling the lad like they had learned in first aid practise) Hathaway made a small noise. If it was protest or simply surprise Robbie couldn’t tell but at least he seemed to come around slowly.

 

 

******

 

Lewis gazed down at his Sergeant with a mix of concern and calm stemming from long experience. As mentioned before, Mark had been down with heat exhaustion more often than his parents had liked and so Robbie had ample experience at treating said state.

 

Now that James was installed in the shade of a great willow tree near the lake, on his back and with slightly elevated feet he would get better soon. To help matters he had undone the first few buttons of Hathaway’s shirt and was now bathing the pale face with a wetted handkerchief. Although his face didn’t need actual cooling down, as with heat exhaustion it was more a matter of lost fluids than overheating, it would help the lad come around and hopefully alleviate some of the pain he would be experiencing after waking.

Slowly his complexion was returning to a more natural shade (which was to say it went from overly pale to sunburned red) and even the breathing had slowed down somewhat. Still, he looked disconcertingly vulnerable lying there stretched out on the ground.

 

Also, after mucking about in the heat for hours his sergeant was for once lacking the air of being freshly groomed, a fact that often had others think of James as a posh snob rather than the brilliant copper he was.

 

_I guess you get cured of that image quite quickly once you’ve seen the lad take one of his leaping tackles to catch a bad guy._

 

He thought of those things and many others while he waited for his partner to become alert enough to drink water from the bottle Robbie had fetched from the car. Until then all he could do was checking his pulse from time to time and dab at his face and neck with a wetted hanky.

 

 

 ******

 

James regained full consciousness with a low moan. Something cold was touching his forehead and instinct told him to move out of range. Not a good idea it turned out. Nausea nearly overwhelmed him while his head pounded in sync with his racing heart.

 

“Easy there, Jim. No need to make it worse.” He knew that voice. Slowly he turned toward it and actually opened his gritty eyes all the way. Lewis face swam into view, slightly leaning over him – not at all unlike when he had woken in hospital after Zoe Kenneth had attempted to murder him.

 

Only this time his governor gazed down at him with something like fond exasperation instead of faint disappointment.

 

It was about that time when the events of the day caught up to him!

 

He bolted upright but before he was even half way up Lewis’ hands pressed down on his chest and gently pushed him back down.

“Oh no, Sergeant. That would do nothing for you at the mom’ other than making you throw up most likely.” Somehow James had to agree. He did feel decidedly crappy. Breathing through the massive headache he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Gulping in massive amounts of air also seemed to help with the nausea.

 

“Let’s try this first, shan’t we?” An arm was slid under his neck and his head lifted a bit before the rim of a plastic bottle was set to his lips. The water – although nearly lukewarm – felt heavenly as it slid down his parched throat. He would have gulped down the contents in one go if he could but Lewis wouldn’t let him. At his half-hearted noise of protest he shook his head.

 

“Slowly, James. Either you take this in slow sips or it will come right back up.”

 

That sounded uncannily plausible.  After a few more sips he was laid down on the ground once more.

No, wait, his head wasn’t resting on the ground, there was something soft under it. Maybe his governor’s suit jacket?

 

“Sir, (his tongue felt heavier than normal while his mind seemed to work only on half drive) what exactly happened?”

 

Before he got an answer the damp cloth was reapplied to his brow. This time he actually enjoyed the feeling, although he was a bit embarrassed that Lewis had to take care of him.

 

“Well, it seems you acquired a bit of heat exhaustion. Happens when one stays out in the sun for hours without drinking something or taking a break once in a while, you know.” There was a hint of reprove in his senior’s gruff tone.

James averted his gaze in an unconscious show of self depreciation before finally facing his governor.

 

“I’m sorry, Sir. For the trouble, I mean. I didn’t notice a thing until... well until we talked on the phone....” His words petered out before quite suddenly the lad’s eyes widened and he shouted:

“Christ! Where is the watch?! If it is lost again only because I was stupid enough to drop from a bit of heat....!”

 

This time James bolted upright before Lewis could stop him. A moment later he had keeled over clutching his head in his hands moaning in pain. It was not usually his way to admit to pain that openly but he couldn’t help it! Everything was spinning and blurring around him. James heard a low groan not even sure if he himself was emitting it or not. The only thing he knew was that he felt inches away from fainting again.

 

 “Sir, ... we have to...!” Despite everything his thoughts were still focused on their case.  

 

“Calm down, Jim. That watch is right here. It’s a’right. Just calm down.” Lewis held up a plastic bag which held the evidence in question. Relief flooded him and it was overwhelming enough that he didn’t protest when warms hands took his shoulders in a firm grip and gently guided him to lie back down. 

.

“Be right back, lad, just hang in there.”

For a while James simply lay there unmoving, willing away pain and dizziness. Then the cloth was back – newly wetted it seemed – gently wiping his brow and throat.

 

“One day you’ll be givin’ me a heart attack, lad. Working yourself into such a state....” James swallowed at how caring, almost parental his senior sounded just now. For a long while only silence reigned.

 

 

 ******

 

“Sorry... I might have overreacted a bit.”

“Don’t worry, Jim. Here. Time for a bit more of this.” The water bottle returned and this time James was able to drink almost without help.

 

“See, you’ll be right as rain in no time.”

“I hope so. If you don’t mind the question, Sir, what are we going to do now? We have more pressing things to do than lying around.” There was an edge of bitterness to Hathaway’s words. Robbie knew he resented being cause for their delay, but he also knew better than to let his Sergeant rush of while still in this state. He would sooner be down – and most likely worse for wear – than he could blink.

Inspector Lewis’ expression was one of complete calm – a sharp contrast to Hathaway’s muted agitation – when he finally answered.

 

“Now, James, we will wait until you are better and then I’ll drive you home, where you will get some more rest. This might not be serious enough to warrant a visit to J&R but it isn’t something to trifle with either.”

 

James closed his eyes with a deeply felt groan but couldn’t argue.

 

Sitting there on a grassy slope in the shade of a huge tree, suit jacket discarded and sleeves of his shirt rolled up Inspector Lewis exuded a quiet, unthreatening kind of authority that others tried and failed to acquire their whole life long. James knew it was this kind of authority that made almost anyone cooperate with him – no matter if they did it consciously or not. And who was he to fool, he himself was no exception.

 

Anyway, if his governor actually gave that kind of a calm command, you generally knew he meant it.

 

“Yes, Sir.” Only slight frustration shone through his words, making Lewis chuckle quietly.

“There’s a good lad.”

 

 

 ******

 

While James obediently lay in the tree’s shade to recuperate Lewis make a few phone calls to move their investigation along. When he returned from the edge of the lake (where signal had been better) the tall blonde looked up at him with a slightly discomfited expression. Sometimes James really worried too much.

 

“You know, Sir, I will go down in history as the sergeant stupid enough not to notice a bout of heat exhaustion even when it jumped him in the face.” He gave a long suffering sigh that made Lewis grin a bit. He hid that grin quickly, though; James could be touchy when his pride was battered.

 

“Maybe. Or maybe you will be honoured for special devotion to a case. Who knows, there’s no point in fretting about it.”

 

“You can easily say that. You haven’t made a fool of yourself.” There was that bitter edge again.

This time Lewis couldn’t keep in the laugh! Still chuckling he sat down next to his bagman and continued before the hurt in Hathaway’s face could turn into something deeper.

Robbie didn’t intent to hurt James, but the image that the lad really thought he had never been embarrassed as a DS was simply too hilarious! He could see James’ angular features closing off already, something that usually happened when he wanted to hide his feelings.

 

“James, I didn’t mean offense. But honestly, do you really think I never made a fool of myself in my days as a sarge? I worked with Morse; half the time I felt like a fool... must have been that superior mind of me governor.” His petered off as he caught James’ eyes before finally continuing.

 

“I know a certain someone who impresses others with that big brain of his on regular basis. It makes some feel quite foolish, too, you know, being faced with such intellect.”

 

James had the decency to blush, both at the obvious compliment as well as at the head washing.

 

“Morse once said it does wonders to your ego, being embarrassed, that is. Keeps you modest and level headed.” A mischievous twinkle now lit Lewis’ eyes.

 

“Tell me, Sergeant, with all that rowing you did back then, did you never get tanned a bit?”

“Ah, no.” It came dry as dust. James had obviously found his good humour again. And as always, the lad had to take it a step further, still:

 

“Actually, Sir, I took the phrase ‘milky complexion’ to a whole new dimension. The girls liked it, though.” Now there definitely was a facetious gleam in the younger man’s eyes.

 

“Did you get sunburned, then?”

“Yap, every time... despite using copious amounts of sun blocker.”

James knew he owed Lewis that little titbit of his past. It was okay, actually. Somehow he didn’t mind sharing his past with his governor as much as he did with others. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t still tight lipped about it, even with Lewis. But the inspector knew this and appreciated freely given information all the more for it.

 

 

 ******

 

They were sitting in Lewis’ car on their way back into town when James voiced a question that had been nagging him ever since Robbie took care of him back by the lake.

“Sir, how is it that you know so much about this all?” He gestured to himself in a general way. For once the move lacked its loftiness. Well, it was no wonder considering what the lad had been trough today.

 

James must have taken his silence for disapproval. A flicker of uncertainty flashed across his angular features as he hastily assured:

 

“Not that I don’t think you possess a certain knowledge in the area considering all the years you’ve been a copper, but it _is_ bit unusual, don’t you think?”

Lewis imparted a mock stern glare on his sergeant.

 

“Should be affronted by that, Sergeant. I’m not, though. Truth is, my son got these quite often when he was a young lad... would never listen to reason, that boy.”

 

“Reminds me of a certain someone, now that I think of it.”

“I have absolutely no idea to whom you could be referring, Sir.” There! The amusement was back.

“Oh, drink your water, already, you cheeky sod!” James grinned into the bottle as he obediently followed his governor’s order.

 

 

 ****** 

 

Robbie had dropped Hathaway off at his flat and was currently making a cuppa in James’ small kitchen. With the heat and all they both would have preferred a fridge cold bear but that was not an option today.

_Nothing to it, though; he lad needs tea more than a pint right now._

 

 

 ******

 

When Hathaway emerged from the shower 15 minutes later the tell-tale sign of amusement made his face light up. He did feel genuinely better now and that had brought a up teasing mood.

 

“Sir, I thought I heard you laughing. Did anything in particular amuse you?”

“Well, I thought I heard _you_ singing there, so it is entirely possible that youheard _me_ laughing.” Lewis shook his head mildly.

“Never in me whole life would I have taken you for the ‘singing in the shower’ type. Shouldn’t have been surprised, though; what with you playing madrigals an’ all.”

 

“Oh, you would be surprised, Sir.” There it was again: Hathaway’s ‘humorously haughty tone of voice No. 3’!

 

“I can imagine. Ever been a choir boy back when ye were a lad?”

Lewis fond grin made James duck his head a bit. When he answered, though, his tone was back to deadpan – a sure sign he wanted to take the piss out of his senior.

 

“Nope. Always thought celibate was enough, personally, no need for a castrate’s career a’tall.” Did the lad mix a bit of Geordie in there?

“I’m glad for it, lad ... at least I think I am. Anyway, no need to cut off a perfectly good baritone for no reason a’tall.”

The lanky sergeant inclined his head at that. In the end, the day hadn’t been all that bad, James thought.

 

_At least we have most likely cracked the case. To be able to arrest that man before he does more damage somewhat recompenses for making a fool of me today. Anyway, Inspector Lewis is damn good making one feel better... not only health wise._

 

 


End file.
